AZIZ HANIFFASrilata Zaheer has been appointed dean of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, beat-ing out several candidates who were underthe microscope of an 18-member searchcommittee that conducted an internationalhunt.The committee finally decided on one ofits own. The Chennai-born and raisedZaheer, a 20-year veteran professor andadministrator at the CSM and an expert ininternational business, was unanimouslyapproved by the university’s board ofregents March 9.Among the candidates she beat out forthe job were Charles Whiteman, seniorassociate dean, University of Iowa’s TippleCollege of Business; Randall Peterson, pro-fessor, organizational behavior, LondonSchool of Business; and Mathew Slaughter,associate dean for the MBA program,Dartmouth College’s Tuck School ofBusiness.Zaheer, 58, who is married to AkbarZaheer, Curtis L Carlson Chair in Strategyat Carlson, had been serving as the school’sinterim dean for the past nine months sinceAlison Davis-Black left the position.University Provost Karen Hansen, inannouncing the appointment, said Zaheerwas ‘a rare combination of someone who isrenowned for her insights on internationalbusiness, highly regarded for her under-standing of the global and local businessesthat drive the Minnesota economy, andacutely aware of the needs of the CarlsonSchool.’Zaheer’s roles at Carlson have includedPhD coordinator, Strategic Managementand Organization department; departmentchair of SMO; and most recently associatedean of faculty and research, responsiblefor faculty in seven academic departmentsand the school’s research infrastructure,including its PhD program in businessadministration.

Srilata Zaheer
The track record

For her contributions to scholarship in international business, in 2007, Zaheerwas recognized with the field’s highest honor as a Fellow of the Academy ofInternational Business.She is a consulting editor, Journal of International Business Studies.She has won several international awards for her research, including the BarryRichman Award for the best interdisciplinary work in international management.She is a founding member of the International Academic Council of the IndianSchool of Business, set up by McKinsey, Kellogg, and Wharton in Hyderabad, and alsoserves as co-director, Center for Integrative Leadership, University of Minnesota.She is involved with the India Health Foundation and in mentoring a worldwidenetwork of former students and collaborators.the Carlson School, straight out of the PhDprogram at the Sloan School ofManagement at MIT (she holds a bachelor’sdegree in physics from Madras University).I wasn’t quite a rookie, however, havingspent a significant amount of time workingin the real world of multinationals, initiallywith Tata Consultancy Services, which Ijoined out of my master’s in business fromthe Indian Institute of Management inAhmedabad, and later on as the internalauditor of what was then Sandoz (India).That likely explains my attraction to studythe field of international business, particu-larly the location and organization ofmultinational firms.’She added, ‘I’m concerned that businesshas lost credibility in society and feelstrongly about developing a new genera-tion of managers who can once more estab-lish its position as a force for the good.’One of Zaheer’s friends, Gopal Khanna,who served as chief financial officer in erst-while Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty’sadministration and as CFO in the WhiteHouse during George W Bush’s secondterm, told India Abroad, “Sri’s appoint-ment is indeed huge. (Since the newscame) I have heard a chorus of praises fromthe academics at the university and fromsenior leaders in the Minnesota businessworld.”“Sri’s appointment,” Khanna said, “is asource of great inspiration for the Indian-American community and for all theyoung women who aspire to break theglass ceiling. I know our daughter Rohiniwho attended the business school feelsinspired, as do several other second gen-eration Indian Americans, particularlywomen, who see this as yet another exam-ple of a talented individual opening doorsfor them through her hard work, andserving both the community and profes-sion well.”the week that wasVikram Pandit’s Citi fails stress test;Page A23The Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup is among the fourfinancial institutions — including Sun Trust, Ally Financialand MetLife — that failed the Federal Reserve’s stress testto show they have enough capital to survive another seri-ous downturn. ‘Much of Wall Street’s attention fell toCitigroup, however, which has made significant stridesunder Mr Pandit’s leadership (since 2007),’ said The WallStreet Journal, adding that it was a blow to his efforts torevive investor confidence in the bank.Azim Premji among world’s richesttech billionairesWipro co-founder Azim Premji, with net worth of $18.5billion, ranks sixth on a Bloomberg list of the informationtechnology world’s richest men. The list is topped byMitsubishi plans global small car hub in IndiaJapanese auto major Mitsubishi Motors Corporationplans to join compatriots Nissan Motor and Suzuki MotorCorporation in setting up a global hub to manufacturesmall cars in India. The company currently has sevenmanufacturing facilities across Japan, North America,The Netherlands, Thailand and Philippines.

Wipro promoters to cut stake via auctionIn a step towards complying with new shareholdingnorms on promoter holdings, the Azim PremjiFoundation will sell 35 million shares of Wipro throughauction. The promoter holding in Wipro, now 79.5 per-cent, would be reduced to 78.1 percent.

Rupee to have bigger play in globaltradeIn a move that could help make the rupee an interna-tional currency, India’s Directorate General of ForeignTrade has proposed to allow export benefits to anyexporter who gets receivables in rupees from its interna-tional counterpart. However, it will not be allowed in thecase of neighboring countries with whom India maintainsporous borders.